April News: Surprising Pirates, and a Bittersweet Farewell

As T.S. Elliot put it, when he wasn't writing about cats, April is the cruelest month.  Not sure if that is the case thus far in these months, but it has been a surprising one as far as your Pittsburgh Pirates are concerned.

The Buccos won the season opener and the following day began a six game losing streak.  Not only that, in that second game, future Face of the Franchise Ke'Bryan Hayes was injured - and it will take a Zapruder Film like study of the game tapes to see just exactly how he was injured - and was sent to the Injured List and hasn't been seen since.  Typical luck of the Pirates, we all said.  Funny thing, though, that since that 1-6 start the Pirates have gone 6-3, and now sport a record of 7-9 and are not in last place in the NL Central Division.  They've done so with some surprisingly good pitching, especially out of the bullpen, but nobody should be kidding themselves.  They are a rebuilding team with a lot of holes and a lot of shortcomings, but for the last nine games, at least, it's been fun tuning in and thinking that, hey, we might see a pretty good ballgame tonight.

So nothing cruel from the Pirates so far this April.

Meanwhile, a bittersweet note was sounded from the other end of General Robinson Street last week with the news that Steelers free agent running back James Conner had singed a contract with the Arizona Cardinals.  Thus ends an eight year saga of James Conner Football in The Burgh, four at Pitt, four with the Steelers, and there may well have never been an athlete in Pittsburgh sports annals for whom you wanted to see succeed more.

My first lengthy piece on Conner was written in November 2016, and it told the story of Conner's triumphs and travails at Pitt, including his overcoming cancer and making it back to Pitt for another season where he established the ACC record for touchdowns scored in a career.  

When Conner was drafted by the Steelers the following Spring, it had "storybook" written all over it, and I couldn't remember a Steelers draft pick that I wanted to see make it big so badly as I wanted to see James Conner do so.

Conner showed flashes of brilliance in his four years with the Steelers.  In his second year, 2018, he had over 1,000 yards combined rushing and receiving, scored 13 touchdowns, and made the Pro Bowl.  Too often, though, Conner couldn't stay on the field due to injury.  He missed fourteen games over the course of his four years, and often times he had to leave games due to injury.  The ability to say healthy is a skill every bit as important as being fast, being able to catch a ball, or being able to elude tacklers, and for whatever reason, those injuries plagued Conner's time here.  Were all of those injuries the result of undergoing months and months of rigorous chemotherapy while in college?  One has to wonder.

Conner left town on a classy note, issuing a statement thanking the city, Pitt, the Steelers, and all the fans for their support over the years.  I am sure that everyone who enjoyed watching James Conner play at Heinz Field for the Blue & Gold and the Black & Gold over the last eight years hopes that he finds good health and lots of success with the Cardinals.

Are You Ready For Some Football (Observations)?

It has been 23 days (I looked it up) since The Grandstander has made any serious commentary on football, so it's time to catch up.  Since I last checked in....

• The Steelers kicked the collective asses of the Cleveland Browns and took revenge upon their earlier defeat at the hands of the Ravens, by beating them in Baltimore.  The score of the Ravens game would indicate a close contest, but the Steelers pretty much had that one in control from start to finish.  They have now won four straight games and sit in first place in the AFC North at 5-2-1.  The second half of the schedule won't be easy as it includes games against the Panthers, Chargers, Patriots, Jags, Saints, and the rematch with the Bengals.
• James Conner has made people forget Le'Veon Bell, who has to fish or cut bait by, I believe, next Tuesday.  That is the subject of a whole 'nother post, which I will probably write up as soon as we know whatever the hell it is he decides to do.

• As it stands, though, if I were voting for Steelers MVP today, I would probably vote for Ben Roethlisberger, but James Conner would not be far behind.
• After that win over the Browns, we all know what happened.  The Brownies fired Had Coach Hue "Mr. 3-36-1" Jackson.  This marks the sixth consecutive Browns HC who has been handed the paper key following the second game of the season against the Steelers (all Browns losses, of course).  SIX TIMES this has happened.  In an ESPN interview a few days later, Jackson blamed the whole thing on Baker Mayfield!  The man is totally delusional.

"What, me worry?"

• A lot of people laughed at the beginning of the season when Head Coach Pat Narduzzi said that Pitt would be playing for the ACC Championship.  That thought was especially hilarious after Pitt got pasted by Penn State and Central Florida and lost to a bad North Carolina team.  Since then, though, Pitt almost beat Notre Dame, and have run off three straight ACC wins, sits at 4-1 and are in first place in the ACC Coastal Division.  Win out against Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, and Miami, and guess what?  They will be playing in the ACC Championship Game.  At the beginning of October, I'd have given you long odds that they would be in this position with three games remaining in the season.
• Remember after the Pitt-Penn State game when I said that I would sure like to see James Franklin get dealt a big heaping helping dose of humility at some point.  Michigan 42 - Penn State 7.  Thank you, Jim Harbaugh, who, it must be said, could stand to be dealt some humility himself, but that's college football coaches for you.
• Were you like me and looking forward to watching the Alabama - LSU game last week, a game where all keen observers of the sport said that Alabama would be tested and might well lose to the third ranked Tigers?  29-0 Alabama, and the game wasn't as close as the score indicated.  Don't want to hear about LSU anymore.  Their coach Ed Orgeron, by the way, appears to be certifiably insane just from watching him on the sidelines.
• Back to the pros, throughout the season, I have been posting on Facebook a Top Four, College Football Playoff-Style, ranking for the NFL.  As of this week, it looks like this: 1. Chiefs 2. Saints 3. Patriots 4. Rams.  Other teams are knocking at the door (Steelers, Chargers, Texans, Panthers among others), but right now, those four teams have separated themselves from the rest of the NFL pack.  It will never end up that way, but for right now, does anyone disagree?
• On the Sunday Night Football game, the Packers won the coin toss and deferred, thus kicking off and giving the ball the Tom Brady and the Patriots to begin the game.  Did you watch that one?  If you did, you saw Brady and the Pats march down the field and score in ten plays and less than two and one-half minutes.  The Packer defenders were gassed and sucking wind on THE FIRST DRIVE OF THE GAME.  Why would a team choose to give the ball to Tom Brady to start a game?  You're just asking to have your heads handed to you on a platter when you do that.

• Speaking of the Patriots, did you notice Bill Belichick during that game?  On a Sunday when every coach and player in the league was wearing those olive drab military style sweatshirts and hoodies on the sidelines, Coach Bill was out there in his blue Patriots hoodie.  As much as everyone outside of New England is supposed to despise Coach Bill, there is something about his way of giving the NFL Suits on Park Avenue the middle finger every chance he gets that makes me admire him in a perverse sort of way.

Steelers Get a MUST Win

Big Day for James Conner!!

Behind all of their vaunted offensive weapons, especially RB James Conner, a very strong defensive performance, and even great special teams work, the Steelers triumphed 41-17 over Atlanta yesterday in what was as close to a "must win" situation as you can find in Week 5 of an NFL season.  As I said about Pitt's win over Syracuse the day before, this victory doesn't necessarily save the Steelers season, but a loss to the Falcons yesterday may well have killed it.

As the AFC North stands today, the 2-2-1 Steelers are tied with the Browns, 1.5 games behind the Ravens, and 2.5 games behind the Bengals, and their next three games are, in order, @Bengals, Browns, @Ravens.  That is the make-or-break stretch of games for this squad.

As for this coming week, the 4-1 Bengals are looking strong thus far in 2018, but....

...we know that the Mike Tomlin-Ben Roethlisberger Era Steelers do to the Marvin Lewis-Andy Dalton Era Bengals.   Still, one of these years these Bengals might beat these Steelers (just like one of these years these Steelers might actually beat the Belichick-Brady Patriots), but until it actually happens, it's not the smart way to bet.  As I always say, three things in life you can count on: Death, taxes, and unbelievable screw-ups by the Cincy Bengals.

Hope this chick....

....is ready for this Sunday and a ride down the Paul Brown Stadium Escaloser....

The Steelers' Draft Class of 2017

I can't believe that I am going to write a post about the Steelers Draft of 2017.  It seems to fly in the face of all my rantings about the over-hyping that the NFL Draft always receives, but what the hell, here I go (or should I say, "Here we go.."?).  This will not be one of those "How did they do in the Draft?" pieces with letter grades and all that garbage.  I am not qualified to evaluate players in such a manner, but  these are just some quick impressions of my own, and I add the disclaimer that it needs to be pointed out that none of the players drafted by the Steelers  (or any other team for that matter) over the last three days, have played a down in the NFL, and until they do, nothing that they have done up until now means diddly.  If you don't believe me, does the name Limas Sweed ring a bell for you?

Okay, here goes.

The Steelers story that overshadowed all others over the last three days was the selection of RB James Conner of Pitt in the third round.  I do not believe that sentiment played any part in this selection by the Steelers, and that they believe that he can give them what they truly need: quality depth at the position behind LeVeon Bell.   That said, this has to be one of the greatest "Feel-Good" stories in the recent history of Pittsburgh sports, and I can't remember any Steelers draft  pick ever that I want to see make it big with the team than James Conner.

For more on Conner, as if regular readers need such background, check this out from The Grandstander archives:

http://grandstander.blogspot.com/2016/11/james-conner.html

If familial DNA means anything, you have to love the selection of OLB T.J. Watt of Wisconsin as the team's #1 pick.  If he is as good as older brother J.J., then the Steelers have struck gold, and even if he possesses just a large fraction of J.J.'s talent, it will be a good pick.  What with the flameout that was Jarvis Jones, and with James Harrison approaching Social Security age, the need at the position is certainly there.  Let's hope it works out.

The Steelers selected a quarterback in the fourth round, Josh Dobbs of Tennessee.  It's always fun when they pick a QB.  Can't wait for the "they gotta put Dobbs in there" calls to The Fan when Ben has his first two interception game.  The kid has a degree in aerospace engineering from UT - he actually IS a rocket scientist! - so grasping Todd Hailey's playbook shouldn't be an issue.

The wonderfully named JuJu Smith-Schuster, a WR from USC, was the second round pick.  His selection set off a wonderful peeing contest on Twitter between current wideouts Sammie Coates and Martavis Bryant.  When last seen, Coates was dropping a pass on the first offensive series of the AFC Championship game against the Patriots that could have gone for a TD, and at the very least would have been a long gain for the Steelers.  It may not have changed the eventual outcome of the game, but it sort of set the tone for what was to follow that day.  When Bryant was last seen, well, it's hard to remember that far back, since Bryant spent the 2016 season on what the paper today called his "annual suspension" for the use of banned substances.

In other words, Coates and Bryant should keep their mouths shut, don't you think?

By contrast, Ben Roethlisberger sent a warm welcoming Tweet to Dobbs.  Of course, Dobbs is unlikely to supplant Ben at his position, whereas JuJu has a job for the taking if he can produce as is hoped.

They also drafted two corner backs, another linebacker, and, in a move sure to generate lots of pre-season buzz, a long snapper!

Let's hope all of these guys make it big for the Steelers.  After all, we've all been waiting too long for that seventh Lombardi Trophy to arrive at Heinz Field. 

#herewegoSteelersherewego

Catching Up On Various Things....

Cleaning out the Mental In-Box.....

• One of the great and hallowed cliches (and you know how I love cliches) of baseball is that "the best trades are the ones that you don't make".  Let us hope that that holds true after all the  strum und drag  that surrounded the Pirates and Andrew McCutchen these last several weeks.  I remind you that the Pirates don't have to trade this guy.  He can stay here for two more seasons, and if they are typical Cutch-like seasons, and he leaves as a free agent after 2018, as a Pirate fan, I'll take that.
• Having said that, what have the Pirates done so far in the off season to get you excited about 2017?  Taking Tyler Webb in the Rule 5 Draft just isn't doing it for me.
• The Cubs lost Aroldis Chapman but traded for Wade Davis.  And the Cardinals signed Dexter Fowler.  The Pirates have lost Sean Rodriguez and Matt Joyce and added, I remind you, Ty Webb (who measures himself against other ballplayers by height).

.

• In close to sixty years of following sports in Pittsburgh, I can't remember any new coach/manager of any team being greeted with such hostility among its fan base as the business that Pitt basketball HC Kevin Stallings is getting.  I honestly think that Pitt fans are PO'd when Pitt wins (they are 8-2 thus far, although the ACC schedule has yet to begin), because it tempers down the "bitch-and-moan factor" amongst the Loyalists.
• James Conner has announced that he will be entering the NFL Draft, and that Pitt's Pinstripe Bowl appearance on December 28 will be his final game as a Panther.  What a great career and a great story that Conner has been.  I hope that he has a successful career as a pro.  

• James Conner should win Pittsburgh's Dapper Dan Man of the Year Award for 2016.
• Looking for a good baseball book, maybe as a possible Christmas gift for someone?  Try this one:

• As the title suggests it talks about the preponderance of arm injuries, particularly the preponderance of Tommy John surgeries performed, not only in the major leagues, but throughout amateur baseball, down to the high school level.  Among other aspects of the book, Passan follows two pitchers, Todd Coffey and Daniel Hudson, over three years as they struggle to recover from a second Tommy John surgery.  The book also offers a searing indictment on the machinery youth baseball and showcase events for high school and even pre-teenaged players.  The book sometimes bogs down in medical jargon and technicalities at times, but, overall, it is well worth any baseball fan's time to read.
• Are you watching this CBS sitcom, now in its second season?

• If you are not, you should be.  Might be one of the funniest shows on network television right now.
• Steelers in Buffalo and the Ravens play the Patriots today.  Could be a pivotal day in the AFC North.

James Conner

The Pitt football game against Syracuse this coming Saturday will probably be the final regular season game for Pitt running back James Conner.  Conner is a junior with one season of eligibility remaining, but he will no doubt opt to enter the NFL draft in the Spring and begin his pursuit of a professional career.

Chances are, if you are reading this, you already know Conner's story....leading rusher for Pitt as a freshman in 2013....ACC Player of the Year in 2014....season ending injury in opening game of 2015....diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in November, 2015.....underwent rigorous chemotherapy....returned to play by the season opener in 2016.  So far, he has gained 945 yards on the ground, 254 yards as receiver, and has scored 17 touchdowns in this season.  This past weekend he established an Atlantic Coast Conference record for career rushing TD's and total TD's, and while football in the ACC might not be what football in the Big Ten or SEC is, that league has been playing football for over seventy years, so that is one major accomplishment for Conner.

Yet the football accomplishments are not even half the story for Conner.  His story as a cancer survivor has become an inspirational one for people throughout the country.  And the best part is that James Conner seems to be a genuinely good person and nice kid.  For sure, it has been a pleasure to watch him over the course of his career and, especially, in this, his comeback year.

I pay little attention to and care even less about the Heisman Trophy Award ever since it was co-opted by ESPN and Nissan a decade or so ago.  ESPN decides before the season who the four or five candidates will be for the award and hypes them endlessly and exclusively, so who cares?  However, if the Award wants to really mean what it is supposed to mean, that it should go to a great player who, not incidentally, has great character and is truly inspirational, then James Conner should be awarded that Trophy this year.  Won't happen, but it should, but James Conner won't need a Heisman Trophy to validate what he has meant to Pitt football, and thousands of people across the country who have been inspired by his story.

(And on the subject of Awards, Conner is surely on the short list for Dapper Dan Man of the Year in Pittsburgh this year.)

We will say good-bye to Conner at Heinz field on Saturday.  It will be a bittersweet moment, to be sure.

Pitt 28 - Villanova 7 and What Comes Next

(Photo from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

So, Year Two of the Pat Narduzzi Era at Pitt opened yesterday with a 28-7 win over Villanova.  The highlight of the day was the return to action of 2014 ACC Player of the Year James Conner, after a year rehabbing a serious knee injury and, even more important, overcoming a bout of Hodgkin's Lymphoma and the chemotherapy treatments that put him into remission and made him cancer free.  Conner's story is one of the of the more remarkable and inspirational ones in recent Pittsburgh sports history.

So, how did Conner and the Panthers do?

Well, a win is a win, and Pitt will take it, but, in all honesty, both Conner's performance (17 carries for 57 yards, albeit with two touchdowns) and Pitt's performance can best be called pedestrian efforts, at least on the offensive side of the ball, and both Narduzzi and Conner said as much in their post game comments.

Defensively, Pitt was outstanding in shutting out the Wildcats (their lone TD coming on a return of a recovered fumble), and the special teams play was highlighted by a 96 yard kickoff return for a TD by Quadree Henderson to open the second half.

(Photo from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Still, it was the first game, not everyone was totally in sync, and things will get better.  Right?

As for what lies ahead on Saturday, the return of the long departed - since 2000 - rivalry with Penn State.  This game has been greatly anticipated ever since the scheduling for the four year home-and-home series was announced back in the early years of this decade.  We all knew that the lead up to this game would be "heated" but wasn't it great that these two Pennsylvania schools would be playing each other again?

Well, we all know what transpired in the years since, and they are events that I am not going to get into here on this forum.  Some of the exchanges that can be seen on various message boards and fan sites for BOTH schools have been ugly beyond belief.  I can only hope that while the atmosphere may well be heated at Heinz Field next week, I also hope that the ugliness will not be present, but I have my doubts.  I am looking forward to seeing a packed Heinz Field, and I hope to see a terrific football game, but there is a part of me that also dreads being there and seeing the sideshow that might develop.

As for the game, I feel that Pitt's offense needs to improve and play a lot better to be able to defeat even a mid-level Big Ten team, which is what PSU is at this point.  I didn't see Penn State's win over Kent State yesterday, but my friend, and PSU supporter, Dave Glass was there and he was not impressed.  He is calling for a Pitt win in large part because he feels Narduzzi is a better coach than James Franklin.

I like Dave's logic.  He is looking at the players and the coaches who are at Pitt and Penn State now, in 2016.  Let's hope that everyone does that next week and not dwell on those who are no longer involved.